Currently, the business-to-business (B2B) market is exploding. The primary attraction and allure of B2B lies in its potential for enabling a large number of highly automated low-cost transactions to be conducted on a regular basis with multiple trading partners. Ideally, the B2B model attempts to eliminate any form of human interaction in order to reduce costs while, at the same time, increasing the speed and efficiency of executing transactions.
In B2B electronic systems, corporations use electronic data interchange (EDI) transactions to conduct purchases among their trading partners with the help of existing business services offered by a Value Added Network provider, also known as a VAN. FIG. 1 shows a prior art EDI direct procurement buying process. The EDI transaction leaves the supplier 101 and is routed via a gateway 102 past a firewall and through a private lease line 104. On the receiving end, the EDI transaction passes through the recipient's firewall 105 to a gateway 106 and eventually enters the business partner's system 107. Two VANs 108 and 109 are used to facilitate this process. The role of a VAN is critical in resolving any discrepancies or technical loading problems that might occur before, during or after EDI transactions conducted between business partners. Specifically, EDI transactions enter a gateway between the different partners, and if any specific problems occur, the VAN will immediately notify the partner of the problems that occurred during transmission from any party. It is the responsibility of the VAN to help resolve any errors, discrepancies, or glitches which may cause the EDI to fail. By utilizing a VAN, one can minimize delays associated with and smooth out any exceptions to the normal course of EDI transactions. However, VANs charge a fee for their services and there are often more than one VAN involved since there may be more than one gateway and multiple business partners.
Furthermore, even with the aid of a VAN, delays in handling B2B exceptions are inevitable. FIG. 2 shows a process of how B2B exceptions are typically handled in the prior art. A B2B transaction is initiated between a buyer and a supplier, step 201. The work process flow is monitored for any errors which may arise, step 202. If there are no errors, the transaction completes successfully, step 203. However, if an error does occur, the VAN generates an exception report noting this error, step 204. The transaction is then halted pending human closure, step 205. Even with the help of a VAN, the transaction may nonetheless suffer delays because the error report goes unnoticed for a few days. In some cases, the buyer's and/or seller's representative, responsible for handling errors, is temporarily unavailable (e.g., sick, on vacation, transferred, on a business trip, tied up on another project, etc.). Millions of dollars of goods and materials can be hung up several days due to a minor error simply because one particular individual is not there to oversee and remedy the error. And given that many companies operate on a just-in-time inventory scheme, a delay in the shipment of millions of dollars of parts can dramatically effect their manufacturing process.
Due to the extra layer of administrative, cost, and overhead imposed by VANs and their private lease lines they employ, it is anticipated that B2B transactions will shift towards being conducted via the Internet. EDI transactions are starting to be sent via the Internet as XML EDI, cXML, RosettaNet, and other formats as well, thereby eliminating the third-party VANs. However, the functions provided by the traditional VANs still must be met. Thus, what is needed is a substitute virtual VAN for B2B Internet transactions, especially given the inherent unreliability of the Internet. It would be highly preferable if such a virtual VAN were inexpensive to implement, operate, and use. It would also be highly preferable if such a virtual VAN could minimize the delays associated with and help facilitate resolution of any errors which may occur in any B2B transaction. The present invention offers a unique, novel solution of just such a virtual VAN for handling B2B exceptions.